Based on the principle of spontaneous recovery in classical conditioning, what would you predict about Little Albert after his conditioned fear response to the white rat has been extinguished?

• A. Little Albert will develop a new fear response to a different stimulus unrelated to the white rat.
• B. Little Albert will never show fear of the white rat again once the response has been extinguished.
• C. Little Albert's fear response to the white rat will gradually increase over time after extinction.
• D. Little Albert may temporarily show a return of his fear response to the white rat even after extinction has occurred.

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the concept of classical conditioning, where a neutral stimulus (like the white rat) becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus that naturally triggers a fear response, leading to a conditioned fear response to the previously neutral stimulus.
2. Step 2: Recognize that extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus (white rat) is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus, causing the conditioned fear response to decrease or disappear over time.
3. Step 3: Learn about spontaneous recovery, which is the phenomenon where, after a rest period following extinction, the conditioned response can reappear temporarily when the conditioned stimulus is presented again.
4. Step 4: Apply this principle to Little Albert's case: even after his fear response to the white rat has been extinguished, there is a possibility that the fear response may reoccur temporarily without any new conditioning trials.
5. Step 5: Conclude that the correct prediction is that Little Albert may show a temporary return of his fear response to the white rat after extinction, illustrating spontaneous recovery.